Labor alleges PM pressure on Keelty

A senior member of Prime Minister John Howard's staff has been accused by the Opposition of trying to intimidate Australia's top police officer, Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty.

On Sunday Mr Keelty suggested that Australia's involvement in the war on Iraq could have increased the likelihood of a terrorist attack at home.

Mr Keelty was reportedly telephoned by Mr Howard's chief-of-staff and chastised for contradicting the Government's position that the war did not increase the risk of such an attack.

Labor foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said that if Mr Howard's chief-of-staff, Arthur Sinodinis, had sought to politically intimidate the commissioner then the staffer's position had become untenable.

Mr Rudd said the federal police was Australia's top counter-terrorism agency and what had happened was enormously disturbing.

"Mr Keelty is a professional... the Australian people have confidence in professionals who simply tell it like it is and don't stick to a political script," Mr Rudd said.

"This is a most disturbing development as far as the real war on terrorism in this country is concerned."

On Sunday Mr Keelty said: "The reality is, if this turns out to be Islamic extremists responsible for this bombing in Spain, it's more likely to be linked to the position that Spain and other allies took on issues such as Iraq."

Mr Howard responded by saying: "It's not a conclusion I would have reached."

He said later that ASIO Director-General Dennis Richardson was "a more authoritative person than most on the motives and the modus operandi of terrorist operations".

Mr Howard there was a difference between the intelligence judgements of organisations such as ASIO and the operational functions of police commissioners.

In fact, ASIO's Mr Richardson did warn in a speech he made in August 2003 that "the fact that we are in close alliance with the US and the fact we were early and actively engaged in the war on terrorism does contribute to us being a target". But Mr Richardson went on to add that Australia was a target before September 11.

He also said ASIO had made the judgement that involvement in a war in Iraq would not, in the absence of specific intelligence, warrant a raising of the overall threat level in Australia.